Author Topic: :-) turns 25  (Read 4176 times)

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Offline red hibiscus

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:-) turns 25
« on: September 18, 2007, 10:15:25 AM »
Here's an ode to smileys!  :)





http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/09/18/emoticon.anniversary.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

Twenty-five years ago, Carnegie Mellon University professor Scott E. Fahlman says, he was the first to use three keystrokes -- a colon followed by a hyphen and a parenthesis -- as a horizontal "smiley face" in a computer message.

Language experts say the smiley face and other emotional icons, known as emoticons, have given people a concise way in e-mail and other electronic messages of expressing sentiments that otherwise would be difficult to detect.

Fahlman posted the emoticon in a message to an online electronic bulletin board at 11:44 a.m. on September 19, 1982, during a discussion about the limits of online humor and how to denote comments meant to be taken lightly.

"I propose the following character sequence for joke markers: :-)," wrote Fahlman. "Read it sideways."

The suggestion gave computer users a way to convey humor or positive feelings with a smile -- or the opposite sentiments by reversing the parenthesis to form a frown.

Carnegie Mellon said Fahlman's smileys spread from its campus to other universities, then businesses and eventually around the world as the Internet gained popularity.

Computer science and linguistics professors contacted by The Associated Press said they were unaware of who first used the symbol.

"I've never seen any hard evidence that the :-) sequence was in use before my original post, and I've never run into anyone who actually claims to have invented it before I did," Fahlman wrote on the university's Web page dedicated to the smiley face. "But it's always possible that someone else had the same idea -- it's a simple and obvious idea, after all."




Offline Sal Atticum

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Re: :-) turns 25
« Reply #1 on: September 18, 2007, 02:57:06 PM »
 :occasion13:
JUST EXTRA POLISH. I DO SOME WORK WITH EXCELL SO I KEEP THE CAPS LOCK ON :-P

Offline JakeJZG

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Re: :-) turns 25
« Reply #2 on: September 18, 2007, 05:22:31 PM »
19-Sep-82 11:44    Scott E  Fahlman             :-)
From: Scott E  Fahlman <Fahlman at Cmu-20c>

I propose that the following character sequence for joke markers:

:-)

Read it sideways.  Actually, it is probably more economical to mark
things that are NOT jokes, given current trends.  For this, use

:-(
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Offline Sal Atticum

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Re: :-) turns 25
« Reply #3 on: September 18, 2007, 06:17:58 PM »
You know, I've seen that one before, and I was never really sure if it was for real or not.

Apparently it's good enough for CNN.
JUST EXTRA POLISH. I DO SOME WORK WITH EXCELL SO I KEEP THE CAPS LOCK ON :-P

Offline JakeJZG

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Re: :-) turns 25
« Reply #4 on: September 18, 2007, 06:28:18 PM »
It was in Google's usenet archives...but their link to it is down. 
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Offline pmp6nl

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Re: :-) turns 25
« Reply #5 on: September 19, 2007, 01:11:46 PM »
Cool   ;D  :wavy:

:bananana:
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Offline zman

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Re: :-) turns 25
« Reply #6 on: September 19, 2007, 04:13:08 PM »
:)

 

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